Astronomers discover smallest dark object through gravitational lensing

Infrared (black ring/dot) and radio (orange/red) views of a distant galaxy distorted by a gravitational lens; inset shows a tiny dark object (white blob). (Image: Devon Powell/Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics)

Astronomers have identified a peculiar and extremely small object in the distant Universe. This one that emits no light or radiation yet bends light passing nearby. It is the lightest dark object ever detected using gravitational lensing techniques.

The object has a mass of roughly one million times that of the Sun. It was inferred from slight distortions, which is described as a “pinch” in the image of a background galaxy. Since it does not emit any electromagnetic radiation, it was only found by its gravitational effect by astronomers.

Who Made the Discovery? 

This study was conducted by a global team of scientists, comprising of experts based in the University of California, Davis and also the Max Planck Institute of Astrophysics among others.

The discovery was released on 9 October 2025 in the journal of Nature Astronomy, and also Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The telescopes were global and this effectively formed a super-telescope the size of the earth as the observations were made.

Why This Discovery Matters

The discovery investigates the borderline between seen and unseen matter casting the light into how dark matter collapses on lesser scales. It questions the theories of galaxy formation that have remained popular and poses new questions regarding the actual nature of the dark matter.

This discovery is especially thrilling in the field of cosmology, where it was proposed that the dark matter can be found in tiny starless clumps.

Observation and Future Research

The instruments that the team employed included the Green Bank Telescope, the Very Long Baseline Array and the European VLBI Network. These instruments include radio telescopes in Europe, Asia, South Africa and Puerto Rico to create an Earth-sized super-telescope.

It was used to capture the subtle signals of gravitational lensing by the dark object. They were able to observe tiny distortions created by the dark object by a combination of the radio and infrared data.

Future Steps

Scientists will continue to analyse the data to determine whether the object is a compact, inactive dwarf galaxy or a clump of dark matter. They also plan to search for similar objects to test current cosmological theories.